Bengali Alphabet

Introduction

Bengali is one of the most widely spoken languages of India. It is regarded as one of the sweetest languages of the world after Spanish and Dutch. Spoken by more than 210 million people as a first or second language, with some 100 million Bengali speakers in Bangladesh; about 85 million in India, primarily in the states of West Bengal, Assam, and Tripura and sizable immigrant communities in the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Middle East.
 
Bengali is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Indian Subcontinent. It is the national and official language of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, and the official language of some eastern and north-eastern states of the Republic of India, including West Bengal, Tripura, Assam (Barak Valley) and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It is also one of the 22 scheduled languages of India. With over 250 million speakers, Bengali is the seventh most spoken native language in the world due to their population. It has been influenced by other language families prevalent in South Asia, notably the Dravidian, the Austroasiatic, and the Tibeto-Burman families, all of which contributed to Bengali vocabulary and provided the language with some structural forms. 
 
Dictionaries from the early 20th century attributed slightly more than half of the Bengali vocabulary to native words (i.e., naturally modified Sanskrit words, corrupted forms of Sanskrit words, and loanwords from non-Indo-European languages), about 30 percent of unmodified Sanskrit words, and the remainder to foreign words. Dominant in the last group was Persian, which was also the source of some grammatical forms. More recent studies suggest that the use of native and foreign words has been increasing, mainly because of the preference of Bengali speakers for the colloquial style. 
 
Today, Bengali is the primary language spoken in Bangladesh and the second most widely spoken language in India. The Bengali script has a total of 11 vowels each of which is called a  shorborno vowel letter”. The shorbornos represent six of the seven main vowel sounds of Bengali, along with two vowel diphthongs.
 

History

In the distant past Oriya, Assamese, and Bengali formed a single branch, from which Oriya split off first and Assamese later. This is one reason that the earliest specimens of Bengali language and literature, the Charyapadas (Buddhist mystic songs), are also claimed by speakers of Oriya and Assamese as their own.
 
The Bengali scholar Muhammad Shahidullah and his followers offered a competing theory, suggesting that the language began in the 7th century ce and developed from spoken and written Gauda (also, respectively, a Prakrit and an Apabhramsha).
  
The Bengali linguists Suniti Kumar Chatterji and Sukumar Sen suggested that Bengali had its origin in the 10th century CE, deriving from Magahi Prakrit (a spoken language) through Magahi Apabrahmsha (its written counterpart
Although Bengali is an Indo-European language, it has been influenced by other language families prevalent in South Asia, notably the Dravidian, the Austroasiatic , and the Tibeto-Burman families, all of which contributed to Bengali vocabulary and provided the language with some structural forms. In the 1960s and 70s, Chatterji examined dictionaries from the early 20th century and attributed slightly more than half of the Bengali vocabulary to native words (i.e., naturally modified Sanskrit words, corrupted forms of Sanskrit words, and loanwords from non-Indo-European languages), about 45 percent to unmodified Sanskrit words, and the remainder to foreign words. Dominant in the last group was Persian, which was also the source of some grammatical forms. More recent studies suggest that the use of native and foreign words has been increasing, mainly because of the preference of Bengali speakers for the colloquial style.
 

Varieties

There are two standard styles in Bengali: the Sadhubhasha (elegant or genteel speech) and the Chaltibhasha (current or colloquial speech). The former was largely shaped by the language of early Bengali poetical works. In the 19th century, it became standardized as the literary language and also as the appropriate vehicle for business and personal exchanges. Although it was at times used for oration, Sadhubhasa was not the language of daily Communication.
 

Bengali Alphabet

 
Bengali Script is the fifth most widely used writing system in the world.The Bengali alphabet are known as ‘Bangla Bornomala’. There are 51 letters in the Bengali Alphabet, 11 Vowels and 40 Consonants. The Bangla Alphabet or  bornomala are listed as below:
 
Bangla Bangla Examples English To Bangla Phonetic Examples
অজগর oo organic
আম aa upliftment
ইঁদুর e ent
ঈগল dhirgoi i eagle
উঠ ou unacademy
ঊষ dīrghô ū show
ঋতু re resign
একতারা aa ectasy
ঐক্য oǐ-kar anderson
ওজন o oops
ঔষধ au oakwood
কলা ko carnivorous
খরগোশ kho
গোলাপ go gone
ঘোড়া gho ghost
বেঙ inyo inyoung
চরকা cho charming
ছাতা so size
বিজ্ঞান jo japan
ঝরণা inyo germany
গাঞি niyô / iyô
টমেটো tho tinder
ঠাণ্ডা to thunder
ডাক্তার dho dog
ঢোল do dont
মূর্ধন্য ণ no know
তাবুক toh tamil
থালা tho thermodynamics
দড়ি doh diary
ধনুক dho dont u dare
নৌকা kno none
পা po post
ফল fo fine
বানর bo bun
ভালুক vho vodka
ময়ুর mo monkey
যখন jo jockey
রেল ro rally
লাটম lo light
শূকর talibyosho showroom
ষ|ড় murdhnyo sho sand
সাপ dontyo sho scientist
হাত ho handy
পাহাড় ro rakhi
আষাঢ় ro romance
য়াংজে নদী Yo thermal
উৎস khôndô tô math
এবং onushshar song
দুঃখ bishorgo
হাঁপান Chandra bindu
 

Vowels

 Out of the total 50 letters in the Bangla Alphabet or Bornomala, there are a total number of 11 Vowels which is called ‘Shorborno’. Below are the listed vowels–
Bangla
Bangla Examples
English To Bangla
Phonetic Examples
অজগর
oo
organic
আম
aa
upliftment
 
ইঁদুর
e
ent
ঈগল
dhirgoi i
eagle
উঠ
ou
unacademy
ঊষ
dīrghô ū
show
ঋতু
re
resign
একতারা
aa
ectasy
ঐক্য
oǐ-kar
anderson
ওজন
o
oops
ঔষধ
au
oakwood
 

Consonants 

Consonant letters are called ‘Benjonborno’ and are 35 in numbers. Below are the consonants-
Bangla
Bangla Examples
English To Bangla
Phonetic Examples
কলা
ko
carnivorous
খরগোশ
kho
গোলাপ
go
gone
ঘোড়া
gho
ghost
বেঙ
inyo
inyoung
চরকা 
cho
charming
ছাতা
so
size
বিজ্ঞান
 jo
japan
ঝরণা
inyo
germany
 গাঞি
niyô / iyô
Neon
টমেটো
tho
tinder
 ঠাণ্ডা
to
thunder
ডাক্তার
dho
dog
ঢোল
do
dont
মূর্ধন্য ণ
no
know
তাবুক
toh
tamil
থালা
tho
thermodynamics
দড়ি
doh
diary
ধনুক
dho
dont u dare
নৌকা
kno
none
পা
po
post
ফল
fo
fine
বানর
bo
bun
ভালুক
vho
vodka
ময়ুর
mo
monkey
 যখন
jo
jockey
রেল
ro
rally
লাটম
lo
light
শূকর
talibyosho
showroom
ষ|ড়
murdhnyo sho
sand
সাপ
dontyo sho
scientist
হাত
ho
handy
পাহাড়
ro
rakhi
আষাঢ়
ro
romance
য়াংজে নদী
Yo
thermal
 

Diacritics

These are mainly the Brahmi-Sanskrit diacritics present in languages with Sanskrit influence or Brahmi-derived scripts.
Bangla
Bangla Examples
English To Bangla
Phonetic Examples
উৎস
khôndô tô
math
এবং
onushshar
song
 দুঃখ 
bishorgo
 হাঁপান
Chandra bindu
 

Word Formation

Merging Consonants and Vowels:
Bangla
Bangla Examples
English To Bangla
Phonetic Examples
কবিতা 
ko
Color
কি
কিরণ 
ki
cancer
কা
কারকানা
kaa
candy
কু
কুকুর
ku
cushion
কৌ
কৌশল
kou
courtesy
কী
কীসের
ki
kiss
কৃ
কৃপন 
kri
creepy
কো
কোথায়
ko
question
কে
কেন
ke
can
কূ
কূটটা
ku
quick
 

Sample Text

To understand how Bengali alphabet is used as building blocks to make complex sentences, please see the following: 

“যদি একজন মানুষ তার সঙ্গীদের সাথে গতি না রাখে, সম্ভবত এটি একটি ভিন্ন ড্রামারকে শুনতে পায়  
                                                                                                          
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.                                                                                                                
                                                             
                                                                                                            Walden, Henry David Thoreau
 
You can use our free learning app which helps you to come across a lot of Bengali phrases and other basic Bengali Grammar lessons to improve your Bengali alphabet and basics.